Eight-Ball Zucchini Stuffed with Rice, Basil, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

When I saw 8-ball zucchini at the nearby farm stand, I snatched some up immediately, even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. After all, who can resist squash the size and shape of a pool ball? Stuffing was the obvious option, because otherwise their cute shape would go to waste.

I stuff things a lot, at least when it comes to dishes that eventually wind up on this blog. After all, stuffed vegetables are cute, and when you’re going to be taking photos of a dish, a stuffed baby eggplant is more attractive than an unstuffed one, though not necessarily tastier.

When it comes to ordinary, not-on-the-blog meals, however, I’m not very fond of stuffing. For one thing, it takes a lot longer than just chopping up the vegetable and, say, roasting it or even making raw “noodles” out of it with a spiral cutter. And for another thing, my daughter E. has a inexplicable dislike of stuffed vegetables: Even when she likes the veggie in question and the ingredients of the stuffing, she will automatically hate the stuffed vegetable. So I tend not to go to the trouble too often.

But, as I said, 8-ball zucchini are just too perfectly suited for stuffing, and since E. was out of the house, I decided to fill these cuties with a simple herbed rice mixture similar to what I’ve used on regular zucchini. This time, however, my variegated basil is in full-force, so I let it be the star of this stuffing. Sun-dried tomatoes lend some depth, and a few Kalamata olives pack their usual punch, but the peppery-fresh taste of basil really makes these stuffed zucchini special.

Eight-Ball Zucchini Stuffed with Rice, Basil, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Ingredients

48-ball zucchini

3clovesgarlic

1/3cupsun-dried tomatoes(not oil-packed)

1 1/4cupcooked brown rice

2tablespoonsslivered almonds

1cupbasil leaves, chopped

5Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Instructions

Cut zucchini tops off about 3/4 inch from the top. Scoop out the insides, being careful to leave a wall about 1/4 inch thick on all sides. Steam zucchini and tops for about 8 minutes, until slightly softened.

Rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes by soaking them in hot water until softened. Remove from water and chop. Reserve soaking water.

Chop the zucchini pulp. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, and sauté the garlic for about 1 minute. Add the zucchini pulp and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, brown rice and almonds, and if the mixture seems dry, add a splash of the tomato liquid. Add the basil leaves, Kalamata olives, and black pepper to taste. Cook until warm, about 3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Using a spoon, carefully stuff the rice mixture into the zucchini, mounding slightly on top. Place in an uncovered baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot, covered with tops if desired.

Here I was at the grocery store staring at these squash. I was like aww they look so cute. Now never had one. How does one cook one exactly. Then I saw gorgeous red Himalayan rice. Bought that as well. Well match made by accident. Now on to the stuffing since I have plenty of basil in the garden. I definitely will be using this recipe again and again. Thanks!

I just had to go and get those ball zucchinis I saw recently and did not really know what they where for. So I made my own style of stuffed zucchini…because I bought parsley instead of basil…next time I make a list…and I used normal rice. So I added some rosemary and mushrooms, thought that would go with it. And I must say, it was delicious. So I ate both of them all by myself plus all the left over stuffing…and am full now and happy 🙂

My community garden’s zucchini crop runneth over, so I’m beginning a zuke kick, starting with this dish, which I made last night to great results. We didn’t have the 8-ball zukes, so I ended up taking a massive one from the garden and making the dish into a casserole of sorts. I doubled the olives and added a half cup of the tomatoes. I folded in one and a half cups of chickpeas, and also added a bit of balsamic vinegar for some acid. Finally, even though there is the rice, I served it over some creamy polenta. Yum!

so cute, and look yummy, but couldn’t you just cut large sections from a regular zucchini and use those to stuff? that’s what I am gonna try, see if it works, or if the bottom gets too soft to hold in the stuffing..